


east is up

by Anonymous



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Enochian (Supernatural), F/F, Found Family, Gabriel Lives, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Protective Castiel (Supernatural), Soulmate-Identifying Marks, does that make sense? no but just go with it, it's apocalypse world but sam and dean are around, loosely inspired by twenty one pilots, xe/xem for a demon i made up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:34:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: William Dawes is an orphan with an unreadable soulmark. His family was slaughtered because of it by heavenly soldiers ten years ago, and since then, he has learned to cover his mark and never speak of it. All it brings is pain, and the wrath of the new ruler of Earth, Michael, the archangel. But today changes everything. During a solo raid and rescue mission, a woman who claimed to know him shoved her teenage son into William's arms as a soldier impaled her from behind.Afterward, the boy tells Will everything- he is the famed son of the long-dead archangel Lucifer. He's the one Michael has been hunting for years. Will has a choice- rat him out, and save himself from Michael's gaze (and potential wrath), or take him in, and shoulder the responsibility of protecting him. It should be a simple choice. But William has history with Michael as well. What's one more offense?So William and Jack set off in search of old allies, hoping to find a way to finally have peace. But nothing is ever as it seems, and the two might be in more danger than they thought.
Relationships: (eventually), Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Jack Kline & Original Male Character(s), Michael/Original Male Character(s), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7
Collections: Anonymous





	1. jumpsuit

**Author's Note:**

> get ready for one hell of a ride ;))

_**April 24, 10:08 AM, Eastern Standard Time, in what was previously Baltimore, Maryland:** _

"Run!" shouts the man in black, exchanging gunfire with the angelic soldiers trying to stop him. He wears dirty, black combat boots, army-green camouflage pants, and a sleeveless black hoodie. Dark blonde hair hangs around his face and under the hood like a curtain, and there is a red bandanna tied around his left wrist. No one can see his face, no one knows his status, but they all know who he is. Nobody knows what is under the cloth on his wrist, but everyone knows he is hunted for it. 

Nobody knows anything for sure. 

A woman with matted brown hair, who's holding the hand of a tall teenage boy, stumbles into him. She's running from a soldier with an wicked-looking angel blade. He grabs her by the shoulders and moves her, but she clasps the shoulder of his jacket in her hands and forces him to move with her. 

"What the hell, lady?" he demands. 

"My son," she says, tugging at the cloth. "My son, please. You have to take my son. Michael will kill him if he finds him. Please," she pleads. "Take my son. You can protect him, you're the only one who can-" 

Just as the man opens his mouth to reply, the soldier catches up to them and stabs her through the chest from behind. The man raises his gun and shoots the soldier between the eyes, but it's too late. The woman's body slumps to the ground. He looks up, at her son, who's watching with wide brown eyes. 

"If you're coming, now's the time," he says. 

  
_**April 24, 10:17 AM, Eastern Standard Time:** _

"Explain," the man says curtly. They are walking through an empty street, the houses alongside it razed to the ground. The people he had saved were sent the opposite way to meet up at a checkpoint, and the rebels there would take them out of the state and somewhere safe. But the boy chose to go with him, to go west. 

In place of words, the boy rolls up his left sleeve and shows him the blank space where a soulmark should be. 

"So?" The boy looks up sharply, in surprise. The man just continues. "You don't have a soulmark. So what?"

"So I don't have a soulmark," he insists. "Everyone has one."

The man sighs. "Kid, I can't even read mine. Doesn't matter to me." 

"No, it-" the boy frowns slightly. "The prophecy," he says. "There's a prophecy about the son of Satan. It says that he doesn't have a soulmark." 

The man shoots him a disbelieving look. "You think you're the son of Satan." 

"I know I am," he says. "My mother told me." 

"Lucifer died years ago," the man says, gesturing vaguely. "How old are you, even?" 

"Seventeen." 

He exhales loudly. "Shit. I guess it has been seventeen years, hasn't it." There's a slight pause before he speaks again. "Doesn't explain why your mom wanted you to come with me, though." 

The boy shoves his hands in his pockets. "Michael's starting to look into the rumors about me," he explains. "He doesn't want any of the other archangels to even have a legacy on Earth. Just him. And you're being hunted by him, too. I think she figured, since you've evaded him for so long, that you could protect me too." 

He's blunt, he'll give him that. "I've been hunted by Michael for years, kid. It doesn't get easier. I was born with a target on my back, y'hear? And you'll have one too, if Michael starts lookin' for you." He whistles quietly. "He's damn good at what he does. Protecting myself is hard enough." 

The kid looks crestfallen. "So that means you won't take me?" 

The man looks up at the cloudy, grey sky. "No," he says after a moment. "No, it just means that you're in danger just being around me. If you really wanted to be safe, you'd lay low and pray nobody makes the connection to the prophecy." 

"That would only work if Michael hadn't started looking out for me," the boy counters. 

"True," the man agrees. Another pause. Then- "Fine. You know what? Fine. But if me and you- the two people making their way to the top of Michael's shit list, are teaming up, we're going to need backup." He smirks. "Luckily, I know where to find some." He looks over at the boy. "I'm William. Will for short." 

"Jack," the kid smiles. 

"Let's do this, Jack." 

  
_**April 24, 1:43 PM, Eastern Standard Time, in what was previously Washington, D.C.:** _

"Where are we going again?" Jack asks. It's been over three hours since the breakout, but thanks to some false intel William dropped before the whole thing, Michael's soldiers will be looking for him in the opposite direction. 

"Hell," Will says promptly. "Or, Hell on Earth, anyway. We're going to cash in a favor." 

"Who were you thinking of for backup?" 

Will keeps his eyes on the trail ahead of them. "I've got a friend," he says. "Dean Winchester. One of the best hunters I ever knew. Before the Apocalypse, of course. Had a brother, but I don't know where he is now. Anyway, Dean's serving time in one of the jails Michael doesn't run." 

Jack almost stumbles. "Hell's Gates. The Hell, that's where they're holding him?" 

He nods grimly. "Yeah. It won't be easy, but the guy who runs it now owes me. It should be enough to get him free." 

"Won't making a deal put us more on Michael's map?" Jack asks. 

Will shrugs. It's a good question. "Call it a gut thing." Jack doesn't look particularly mollified, but his skittishness is a good sign. Some people, when they escape, think they're automatically untouchable. It takes maturity to know that you can always be dragged back. 

Hell's Gates is an infamous jail in the DC area. It was formed shortly after Lucifer died, when the demons scattered. Most of them were hunted by Michael and his armies, but some of them passed as human and managed to escape angelic wrath. Most went into jobs involving pain and torture, like the ones they had had before the Apocalypse, and makeshift jails were the best ways to do that. 

Of course, Michael controls everything on Earth, now. But he misses some things, and demon-run prisons are some of the things he misses. Sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose. Hell's Gates is one of the places he intentionally ignores, although he'd burn it down if he knew demons ran it. But because they lock away people that they claim are demons, he lets it go. 

But the man they're after isn't a demon at all. He is a human, was a hunter, and so was his brother, before the Apocalypse. Will has only met them a handful of times, but he can recognize greatness when he sees it. The main reason they clicked so well years ago? Neither brother, nor Will, can read their respective soulmarks ("It looks like damn spaghetti," Will remembers saying). Everyone's mark is the name of their soulmate on their left wrist, but what are you supposed to do when your mark isn't even in English? But Will hasn't looked at his mark in a long time. If he can't read it, there's no damn point in staring at it all day long, wondering why the universe screwed him over like this. All he knows about it is that one, it's not in English, or any other language he knows, and two, it's dangerous. It got his parents killed when he was fourteen. 

They were killed by (big surprise) Michael's angels. They'd tried to take him in, to Michael himself, but he'd ran like hell and was eventually taken in by a group of rebels. They taught him everything he knows, from tying knots to summoning demons, and got him started on the path of a rebel. And none of them knew why Will's soulmark wasn't in English, or why it had caused his parents' deaths. 

He's stopped thinking about it. Does him no good, doesn't do anybody else any good either. So he keeps the bandanna on, lets it hide the mark, lets it symbolize freedom and vengeance against angelic rule. And he might be a symbol, but he damn well doesn't feel like one. 

Ten minutes pass. Jack points out the crooked sign with the words Hell's Gates painted in what looks suspiciously like blood, and a short distance away is the building itself. It's small, but most of the jail is underground anyway. Will strides up and bangs on the door twice, and there's a tense silence before the door swings open. And an demon in an all-black suit stands before them. 

"Hey, Red!" xe crows. "Aren't you supposed to be up north? Michael's lookin' for ya." 

Will tries for a smile, but it probably comes out more as a grimace. "I'm cashing in our favor, Abigor." 

"Oh, are ya now!" Abigor grins. "Come on in, Red, bring the kid with ya." As the door closes behind Will and Jack, xe sniffs the air. "Ooh, angel blood. Who've you been tusslin' with?" Then xe pauses. "No, you haven't been fightin' anybody, you smell normal. It's you," xe turns a black-eyed gaze to Jack. " _Nephilim_ ," xe hisses, getting closer. 

"No," Will says firmly, stepping between them. "Nobody touches him, got it?" 

Abigor furrows xer brows. "Nephilim haven't been seen in thousands of years," xe says lowly. "You know what having him around will do. Michael, if he learns about him-" 

"That's why he's with me," he says. "To keep him out of Michael's way." 

Xe snorts. "If you keep doin' the same things to keep him outta the warpath that you've _been_ doin', he might as well surrender now." 

Will glares at xem. "I'm doing my job." Then he sighs, "Now's not the time. I need someone let out of here." 

Abigor claps his hands. "Man, _everybody's_ comin' in to let people out today. Come in, we're lettin' all the cold air in." 

Will nods, gesturing for Jack to come in. Abigor leads them into the main room that houses what xe jokingly calls the 'receptionist's desk'. And who's standing there, talking quietly to the demon at the desk but an angel. 

" _Shit_ ," Will hisses, pushing Jack behind him. "God _damn_ it." The angel turns, as if he hears Will from across the room, and that's when he sees the unconscious human he's holding by the arm.

"Dean?" he whispers. 


	2. levitate

_**April 24, 1:55 PM, Eastern Standard Time, in what was previously Washington D.C.:** _

The angel's stare gets even more intense, if possible. His grip on Dean's arm tightens, and he shifts, angling Dean behind him in the same sort of position as Will and Jack. 

"Whoa, whoa, everyone," Abigor says, holding up xer hands. "Any and all tussles happen _outside_ , get it?" The angel looks over at xem and nods slowly, and in a blink of an eye he and Dean disappear. Will tugs Jack outside quickly, and is met with the smell and faint crackle of ozone, with the angel maybe ten feet away and crouched over Dean's limp body.

Will knows that smell all too well. 

"Close your eyes!" he shouts at Jack, and only flings a hand over his own eyes when he sees him do the same. The light that springs from the angel is bright enough that he can see it _through his hand with his eyes closed_ , but he hasn't been vaporized yet. 

The light dissipates after a moment. Will blinks hard a couple times and reaches out to steady Jack, who's swaying. The angel hasn't moved, except to pull Dean into his arms. He glares at Will and Jack, and if Will hadn't faced down angels before, he'd be backing away and leaving Dean with the dangerous being. But he has, so he doesn't. 

"Hey," he calls. He doesn't dare move, the angel could kill him before he even takes a step. "Um- that's my friend, there. That, um. That you have." The angel doesn't move. "Look, at least tell us what you want with him, okay? Or Michael, angels work for Michael. what does he want with him?" 

The angel finally speaks, his voice deep and gravelly. "He does not belong to Michael," he says. "He belongs to _me_." 

Exchanging stupefied glances with Jack, he decides not to push that. "Great," he says, then- "Wait, if you didn't come to get him for Michael, then why are you here? Doesn't every angel work with Michael now?" 

He looks up now, away from where he's pushing Dean's hair from his face. "He summoned me." 

Will furrows his brows. "He _summoned_ you? That- nobody knows how to do that." 

"He did not consciously summon me," the angel explains. "He was very close to death. He was not aware that he was doing it. I believe it was his last resort." 

"Why? _How_?" 

He gently lifts Dean's left wrist. "This is my name," he says. "Angels can be summoned by their soulmates, under certain circumstances." 

"You can _read_ that?" Will demands. "You can read that squiggly shit?" 

The angel cocks his head. "It is Enochian. Of course I can read it." 

Will closes his eyes for a moment. _We are not going to even **think** about my mark, _he grits his teeth, _we're not doing it. Nothing good ever comes from it, why does it matter whose name it is?_

"So the soulmates of angels have their marks in Enochian, not English," he says, trying to stay as calm as possible. 

"Yes," he narrows his eyes. "Why?" 

"No reason," he forces a smile. "Just- Dean always thought that he didn't have a soulmate. Always said the universe was right for not giving him one." He doesn't miss how the angel shakes his head at Dean, or how gently he holds him. "So. Who are you?" 

"I am Castiel," the angel rumbles. "And I am not aligned with Michael." 

Will frowns. "Every angel is aligned with Michael. It's sort of an angel thing." 

Castiel smiles, just a little. "Michael would not want to see a soldier of his weakened by their soulmate, especially if their soulmate is human. It is why he has started looking for his own. If he were to find them, he would kill them. And I imagine it would be the same for the soulmates of angels in his army." 

"So you're hiding from Michael, too," Jack says slowly. 

Castiel looks at him for the first time. "Yes. And I am protecting Dean from him as well." 

Will sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Well, join the club, then." When the angel looks confused, he gestures and says, "The club of people hiding from Michael." 

"Of course," Castiel says, looking back down at the broken human in his arms. Then there's a tugging in Will's stomach and everything goes dark. 

_**April 24, 2:15 PM, Eastern Standard Time, in what was Dayton, Ohio:** _

Will wakes up with a knot of nausea sitting in the pit of his stomach. 

"Holy shit," he gasps, rolling over and vomiting onto the ground. "Holy shit," he repeats. Wiping his hand over his mouth, he notices that they are _not_ outside Hell's Gates anymore. No, they're in an abandoned park, and Jack is sitting on a swing that looks like it's going to break and collapse at any moment. Castiel is sitting nearby, Dean in his lap. He's still out cold- probably will be for a while. Will doesn't blame him, because he's been on the wrong side of demons before and it hurts like you wouldn't believe. But the damage that Will could see before is gone. Castiel must have done the whole grace-healing thing. Everyone's accounted for. He lets his head hit the ground. 

"What the hell was that?" he croaks after a few minutes. "Where are we?" 

"Dayton, Ohio," Jack says helpfully. "Castiel teleported us here." 

"Explains the nausea," he mumbles. "Dean's alright?" 

"He needs rest," Castiel replies, looking up briefly. "But he will be fine." 

Will wracks his brain for any ideas of where Sam, Dean's brother, might be. They were attached at the hip before the demons dragged Dean away, and the first thing Dean will probably want to do when he wakes up is find him. But he could be anywhere, or he could be dead. 

"Wait," Will says blearily, throwing his arm over his eyes. "Why are we in _Dayton_? 'S this significant or something, or did you just throw a dart at a map with your eyes closed?" 

Castiel looks confused. "There were no darts or maps involved." 

"It's a saying," Jack explains.

He nods. "We are here to find my brother. He was last seen somewhere around here." 

"Aren't all angels brothers?" 

He cocks his head. "Yes. But we are here specifically to find my brother, the archangel Gabriel." 

" _Gabriel_?" Will sits up quickly- "Gabriel's been missing, presumed dead since Michael and Lucifer started fighting, and that was forever and a half ago." 

"He is alive," Castiel says firmly. "It's just a matter of finding him. He does not like conflict, especially family conflict." 

"Well. This certainly sounds promising," he snorts. 

"I'm glad you think so," Castiel replies, and when Will looks over, it's apparent that Castiel really means it, which means that he doesn't understand sarcasm or idioms. Great.

"Here's the thing-" Will stands (with some difficulty) and brushes grass and dirt off of his pants. "Jack and I- we need Dean, we really do. We're trying to get off the grid, _not_ attract Michael's attention by searching for a probably-dead archangel. So- we're sticking around until Dean wakes up, and once he does, you and the three of us are going our separate ways."

And Castiel's entire demeanor changes like someone flipped a damn light switch- he narrows his (very blue) eyes and tenses, holding Dean impossibly closer. The air clouds with the smell of ozone, but instead of revealing his true form, his eyes glow a bright shade of blue. 

"I have waited _millennia_ for Dean," Castiel growls, baring his teeth. "I have watched Dean for years, unable to intervene or protect him. But now I can, and if you think that I will agree to let him go, after so long, and with the _minimal_ protection you can provide, you are incorrect." 

Will raises his hands. "Look, man, I'm sorry about it, okay? But I need him. _We_ need him. Flying under the radar is easier when you're alone, and if you're going to hide more than one person, you need other people to help you stay safe. We're being _hunted,_ Castiel, by _Michael_ himself. I think we're in more need of him." 

This doesn't mollify Castiel in the slightest. "You will have to find someone else, then," he says bluntly. 

"Searching for an archangel will bring attention to you," Jack observes. "Perhaps more attention than William and I would get. You could be putting Dean in danger." Will hides a smile- the kid's learning. 

Castiel doesn't back down. "I can protect him." 

"It's going to be dangerous regardless," Jack says. "And... and you're an angel. Maybe you can protect all of us." 

Will looks over at him. "What're you thinking?" 

"I'm _thinking_ we could help Castiel look for Gabriel," the boy replies. "He could protect us, and we would get to stay with Dean." 

The blonde man looks up at the clouds above them. "Searching for a damn _archangel_ ," he mutters, but sighs- "Castiel, you'd better be right about being able to protect him."

"I can protect all of you." 

"Good," Will says firmly. "So. Gabriel's in Ohio, huh?" And just as Castiel opens his mouth to answer, Dean stirs in his arms and mumbles-

"Wh't the hell?" 


End file.
